Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundle Arrives In Stores

Been on the Wii U fence for a few years, waiting for the right time to pick up one of Nintendo's new consoles for yourself? Well, now might be that time as the Big N announces a new bundle boasting Mario Kart 8, as well as some of the popular racing game's DLC.

It's easy to rag on the Wii U because, in the grand scheme of things, the console is barely stumbling along. Over the past couple of years, though, a handful of fantastic games have arrived for the console, including Splatoon, Super Smash Bros., Bayonetta 2 and Mario Kart 8, just to name a few. That list doesn't include the Virtual Console offerings, either, including a fantastic library from systems like the SNES and the Game Boy Advance.

That being the case, now might be a good time to finally take the Wii U plunge, and Nintendo is attempting to sweeten the pot with a brand new bundle.

According to Business Wire, this new Wii U bundle will boast a copy of Mario Kart 8 already installed on the hard drive, as well as a code two codes for DLC pulled from the Zelda and Animal Crossing universe.

In pretty traditional Nintendo fashion, this news comes on the day that the bundle is apparently available across the US on store shelves. I haven't had the opportunity to make it over to the local shop, but apparently you can walk into stores like Target or Walmart and grab a bundle of your own right this very minute.

According to the official announcement, this Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle can be yours for a reasonable $299.99. That's just in time for this Friday's launch of Super Mario Maker, which lets you build, play and remix oodles of Mario levels pulling from the entire history of the series. According to early reviews, that's another must-have Wii U title you can add to the list.

So, what do you think? Is a copy of Mario Kart 8 enough to convince you to finally pick up a Wii U? If not, what would it take? There's a new Zelda game coming down the pipeline and Nintendo seems pretty set on keeping the Wii U going for a while, so what do you think would be the final straw to break the purchase camel's back?

It's nice to see Nintendo is still putting up a good fight. These kinds of bundles usually do well for consoles, so here's hoping it gives the publisher a nice boost heading into the holidays. Sony introduced a new Uncharted bundle recently, so I imagine that will end up on quite a few Christmas wish lists, too.